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Health Services
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School nursing is defined as "a specialized practice of nursing, protects and promotes student health, facilitates optimal development, and advances academic success. School nurses, grounded in ethical and evidence-based practice, are the leaders who bridge health care and education, provide care coordination, advocate for quality student-centered care, and collaborate to design systems that allow individuals and communities to develop their full potentials."(Approved by the NASN Board of Directors Feb 2017.)
Your Child's Health Matters
Calallen ISD Health Services team believes that the ability for students to learn is directly related to the status of their health. Students with unmet health needs will have a difficult time engaging in the educational process. Calallen ISD understands this and provides a nurse on each campus with the goal of promoting optimum health for all students and staff. The campus nurse serves as a liaison between school personnel, family, community and healthcare providers to advocate for health care and a healthy school environment.
Campus Nurse Roles and Responsibilities
- Management of communicable illness through infection control measures (early detection, surveillance, reporting and follow-up) and ensuring immunization compliance
- Provide health assessments and interventions for students and staff who become ill or have an injury
- Screen and evaluate findings in vision, hearing, scoliosis, and acanthosis nigricans (risk assessment for Type II diabetes)
- Administer medications according to district policy
- Provide pediatric special procedures as needed
- Coordinates health care status and plans with parents, physicians and school personnel
- Provide Health Education to students, staff, and parents
- Leadership and support for staff wellness activities
Announcements
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Calallen ISD Community, Parents and Students,
Beginning in the 2024-2025 school year, our campus nurses will no longer be able to accept a signed parent request to administer over-the-counter medication for up to 10 calendar days.
A school nurse must have a signed order from a prescribing physician (MD, DO, APRN, PA, dentist, or podiatrist) before administering any medication (prescription or over-the-counter) to meet the standards of the Nurse Practice Act.
Recent input from the Board of Nursing (BON) about school nurses administering medication based on parents’ written request can be summarized as: “A parent’s request is not sufficient by itself for nurses to administer any medication. This is true for all nurses in every setting”.
Over-the-counter medication is simply medicine that can be purchased “over the counter”, without a prescription from a physician.
This includes anything oral (such as Tylenol, Ibuprofen, cold medicine, cough syrup) or topical (such as cortisone or other ‘itch’ creams, antibiotic ointment, orajel, any cream or gel with lidocaine, sting relief pads, etc.).
A parent/guardian may come to the campus and administer the requested medication to their student during the school day until proper authorization is received.
To recap, a signed doctor’s order must accompany any medication that is to be given to your child during the school day.Thank you for your understanding,